


Long Hair

by Saturn_the_Almighty



Series: He Looks Good In Red [3]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Donut and Locus bonding, Even more shippy but not enough, Gardens, Gen, He Looks Good In Red, Long Hair, M/M, Mild Language, Old Men In Love, Post-nightmare comfort, Red Team Locus, Sarcus, but they won't admit it, post s15, red team - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-25 22:55:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13222965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saturn_the_Almighty/pseuds/Saturn_the_Almighty
Summary: Sarge seems to like it when Sam wears his hair down.





	Long Hair

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sxpaiscia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sxpaiscia/gifts).



> Happy New Year! We made it! Wooo! 2018, please don't be shitty!
> 
> Have some more Sarcus, why don't you? (Tbh, I wrote this just today, riding on a wave of inspiration)

Sarge hated being woken up. Especially if it was in the dead of night by the muffled sound of pop music coming from Sam's room. His first thought was 'why is Sam listening to pop music?' It seemed downright outlandish. Sam wasn't the type of person to listen to pop music. That's how he knew something was wrong.

In a second he was at Sam's door. Sarge gave it a knock, hard enough to just barely be heard over the music.

Surprisingly, Donut was the one who opened the door. It was still dark inside, the only sign of Sam being the rustling of sheets and a deep, guttural growling-- no, it was more of a whimpering. But Sam's voice was so deep it made everything sound like growling.

"What's all the damn noise about?" Sarge demanded. Donut slipped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. He kept one hand on the doorknob, as if he expected to have to open it back up at any moment.

"Sam's having a nightmare. He said I should play annoying pop music to wake him up 'cause he gets violent sometimes and he doesn't want to hurt anyone," Donut said. He sounded tired, like he just woke up.

Sarge glanced at the door, his brow furrowed. "Why pop music?"

Donut shrugged "Because he hates it enough that he'll wake up just to shut it off." Sarge had never thought of that, but it seemed like a good idea. Donut cracked the door open and peeked inside. Sarge couldn't see past him, but he heard the obnoxious music stop suddenly, followed by a shaky sigh and the sound of the bed creaking. Donut gave a little wave and made to close the door again.

"Sarge?" Sam's voice sounded softer, like he was afraid he'd yell if was any louder.

Donut froze. He gave Sarge a sidelong glance and gestured to the door with his head. "Go," he mouthed. Donut stepped aside and practically sprinted back to his own room. Sarge carefully pushed the door open more.

Sam had his hair down. Of course he did, it was the middle of the night. He had been sleeping before this. His long hair was draped over his shoulders, his eyes downcast as if he was ashamed to want want company. His bedside lamp was on, most likely just for comfort. No one liked to be in the dark after a nightmare. No one liked to be alone either.

Sarge opened the door fully and stepped into Sam's room.

"It was about Felix again," Sam said-- more like whispered. He still sounded scared of his own voice. Sarge moved closer to the bed. He didn't know wether or not Sam wanted him to sit. He had been with Wash a few times after his nightmares. Wash didn't like to have anyone close to him then. He would huddle in the corner, back to the wall and just sit with his eyes wide and alert.

Sam didn't do that. He sat on the edge of his bed poised to jump up and run if he needed to. He was on edge, his hands clasped together so tightly his knuckles were white. "I'm getting so sick of seeing him in my dreams every single night."

Sam glanced up at Sarge and moved over, giving him more space on the bed. It was a small gesture, but Sarge took it as a sign and sat down next to Sam. He didn't say anything. He just sat. He knew Sam enjoyed silence. He would often be found on the roof of Red Base with a cup of tea and a content smile.

Sam wasn't smiling now. He looked tired. He looked defeated. Sarge wished he knew how it felt. Just so he could empathize. But he didn't know what it was like to be plagued by memories every night. Both Sam and Wash knew what that felt like. Sarge had seen firsthand what the aftermath was like. It wasn't pretty.

Sarge didn't even notice when the clock showed twenty minutes had passed and Sam was starting to lean on his shoulder. He yawned, absently nuzzling closer to Sarge. He didn't think a 6'4" former mercenary could ever be cute, but here he was, thinking those exact thoughts.

By the time Sarge managed to get Sam to lay down, he was fast asleep. He quickly pushed back a lock of hair out of Sam's face and pulled the covers over him. He felt like a Dad.

Sarge turned off the lamp and whispered good night before leaving the room. He closed the door as quietly as he could and stopped by Donut's room to tell him to turn down the volume next time. It was bad enough he had chosen pop music, the least he could do was spare the rest of them the pain of having to hear it.

* * *

 

Sam was standing in front of the bathroom mirror trying to give himself a fishtail braid. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. Sarge was so much better at braiding, he should have just asked him to help. Come to think of it, Sam hadn't seen Sarge all day. He briefly wondered where he might be, before realizing he had messed up his braid and had to start over.

After giving up and leaving his hair down, Sam emerged into the kitchen for lunch. Grif and Donut and Lopez were playing some sort of board game. Lopez was cursing under his breath at Grif, who looked like he was winning the game. Simmons was cooking something that smelled _heavenly_. Sarge wasn't there. 

Before he could ask where Sarge was, Grif looked up at him and gave him an ominous warning. "You'd better watch your back, Sam."

Sam furrowed his brow. He resisted the urge to literally look behind him. "Why?" he asked. Red Team was unpredictable, there were almost infinite reasons why he should watch his back.

Grif answered him with surprising seriousness. "Sarge got hit in the face with the Reprise approximation of a butterfly and declared war on everything that's beautiful." Sam could hear Simmons snort from in the kitchen.

"How flattering," Sam deadpanned, sitting down at the table and looking over Donut's shoulder at the game board. It looked interesting. He'd have to get one of them to show him how to play later.

 Grif shrugged. "Hey, he said it himself." He took one of his pieces and moved it across the board, eliciting a frustrated squeal from Donut.

"I'll be careful. Wouldn't want to get a bullet to the head because I'm too beautiful for this world," Sam said, a smirk on his face. Grif looked unimpressed with his retort.

Simmons had made spaghetti squash and brought it to the table. Sam took the opportunity to ask his question. "Have any of you seen Sarge?"

Simmons nodded. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose. "The last time I saw him, he was shooting up the flower fields." Donut looked personally offended. Sam could have sworn Lopez did too. "Don't worry, those things grow back like weeds," Simmons assured them.

Sam ate quickly, thanked Simmons for lunch and went to his room to put on his armor. He wasn't taking any chances.

The flower fields weren't too damaged, thankfully. Sarge seemed to have given up attacking the tiny things. He had decided it was a waste of ammo. If only he could get revenge on that butterfly approximation. It hit his eye. Getting hit in the eye with a butterfly was not pleasant.

Sam found him sitting on the trunk of a downed tree looking out over the lake.

"I figured it'd take to damn long to fight everything that's beautiful," Sarge said by way of greeting. "Especially considering it'd mean I'd have to fight you." Sam sat down next to him and dared to remove his helmet. "I appreciate the subtle way you took to compliment me," he said. Sarge gave him a look. "You're being sarcastic," he guessed.

Sam nodded. "I am. If you wanted to tell me I was beautiful, you didn't need to go through all this trouble," he said, a sly smile on his face. Sarge nodded.  "Noted. You hair looks good," he commented. Sam ran a hand through it self-consciously. "You think? The truth is, I gave up trying to braid it this morning."

"You should wear it down more often. Braiding it all the time puts strain on the hair," Sarge said. He sure seemed to know a lot about hair. Maybe he had sisters... Or long hair of his own at one time.

Yeah?" Sam asked. Sarge got up and put his helmet back on. "Yeah," he answered. "You look beautiful," he added before turning on his heel and heading back toward the base.

Sam sat on the tree for a few minutes in stunned silence, wearing a full-on grin. He decided then and there he would start wearing his hair down.

* * *

 

"What are you doing?" Sam asked, instinctually stepping aside to make room for Donut in the narrow hall. He was carrying a huge covered basket that looked way too big for him. Donut was grinning like a little kid. The blast scar on his face weirdly made his smile stand out more.

"Were going to surprise Red Team!" Donut announced. He held out the basket triumphantly. Sam took a well-timed sip of his tea. "With... A basket?"He asked.

Donut shook his head. "No, silly. Were going to plant a garden. This basket his all kinds of seed in it." He lifted the fabric-covered top and revealed dozens of tiny plastic bags filled with assorted seeds. Sam looked curiously at all the different colors and sizes. He hadn't had a garden since... Well, since before he met Felix.

"And you want me to help?" Sam asked as he followed Donut down the hall and out of Red Base.

"I sure do! You see, we get all kinds of fruits and vegetables in the supply drops. So I was thinking, why not just plant our own. It would be so much more sustainable. I talked to Kimball and she said it was a great idea! So I got this basket in the today's drop and we're going to go out while everyone else is distracted and plant them," Donut explained. He led them around to the side of the base and set the basket down.

Donut had somehow found the time to plot out a designated space for the garden. He began picking out little packets of seeds and checking the labels."... Do you have strawberries?" Sam asked, poking around in the basket looking for anything that caught his eye.

"Mhm! You can have as many as you want," Donut said. He finally found the seeds he wanted. Broccoli, corn, spinach and something native to Chorus called a 'Dia Root'. It tasted like an apple and a banana and had poisonous leaves.

Sam and Donut spent the rest of the day planting seeds and gossiping about Blue Team. It was easy work, but with the star beating down on them and the days on Reprise being longer than on Chorus, they were both sweating by the time Simmons screamed at them to come inside for dinner. Sam had found some Marigold seeds and planted them alongside the strawberries. He loved Marigolds.

As they both headed back inside, Donut reminded him to water the garden every once in a while if he forgot. Sam nodded. Donut would most likely forget at least four times before anything grew.

* * *

 

The next morning, Sam awoke from a thankfully nightmare-free sleep and headed into the kitchen for breakfast and herbal tea. Grif and Simmons weren't awake yet and Sarge was staring out the window in disbelief. "What in Sam hell did you do to the yard, Donut?" he shouted across the room. Donut was sitting on the counter with a piece of toast in his hand. He had been banned from cooking ever since he burnt down the first two bases and Simmons had become the unofficial cook of Red Team.

"Oh, Sam and I tossed our seed all over!" Donut answered. He kicked his feet lazily and didn't seem to notice Sam's involuntary wince. "He- he means we planted a garden! It's no use depending entirely on Chorus for provisions. It makes sense for us to grow our own food," Sam clarified. He started a pot of water boiling for his tea and went to the window. He could clearly see the garden with its uneven rows of newly unearthed dirt and faint footprints in the packed earth.

Sarge looked over at Sam. He was wearing his hair down again. It looked good. The morning starlight came in through the window and made his hair look like it was glowing. It was so silky smooth, seriously. How did he do that? As far as Sarge knew, they didn't have any hair conditioner. "Hm. I guess you're right. Carry on," Sarge mumbled. He gave Sam a glance that was several seconds too long before going to retrieve his coffee from where he left it on the counter.

* * *

 

Weeks passed and the small Red Team garden started to grow. Sam's marigolds bloomed a bright sunny orange and he carefully clipped them and put them in a vase to brighten up the dining room. Grif was overjoyed. He seemed to like the fact they were the color of his armor.

Donut's veggies flourished and he made a salad with them to celebrate. Simmons allowed it only because it didn't require a stove or any kind of heat. His Dia Roots quickly became the favored dessert food of anyone who could get their hands on it. They started to order fewer and fewer food items in the supply drops (although Grif still got his Oreos).

Sam surprised Sarge with the very first strawberry harvest. They were small, a little on the sour side, but Sam still got a huge smile from the leader of Red Team.

"These came from your garden?" Sarge asked, popping one in his mouth. Sam shrugged, trying to seem impassive. "Well, it's a communal garden, but I did plant these. I know how much you like your strawberry Yoohoos. I was thinking you could make your own with these." He failed at seeming impassive. Sarge took the rest of the strawberries and gave Sam another smile. "Thanks, Samuel," He said before taking a another strawberry and feeding it to a stunned Sam. "They're lovely."

 

* * *

 

One morning, the sky was gray, promising rain later. Donut had called everyone to the living room for a movie. He hadn't told anyone what it was, but seeing as how on one else was droning anything else, the living room was packed full with Reds. Even Lopez had nothing else to do.

Sam was stuck on the couch in between Simmons and Sarge. His hair was down and he and Grif were laughing at whatever Lopez had just said. Sam had long since abandoned tying his hair up except when he went to the beach or on his morning runs. Grif had stolen most of his hairbands anyway. He still wore the red ribbon Sarge had given him around his wrist. His team color.

Donut's movie choice earned him a collective groan from everyone in the room. Or course he chose a rom com, this was _Donut_. Grif kept mentioning how painful it was for him to watch it, despite the fact that he stayed until the end. Lopez left silently after the first cliché line of dialogue and Sarge looked like he was watching a war documentary. Which, for him, meant he was enjoying every moment of it.

By the end, Simmons announced he had wasted several hours of his life and retreated to his room with Grif. Donut engaged in an animated conversation with Sarge all while Sam, curled up on the couch, admired the way the white light from the projector enhanced the shade of Sarge's blue eyes and made his silver hair look like lightning. 

**Author's Note:**

> This series is such a slow goddamn burn. It pains me, as the writer, to not have them just kiss already. Soon, my pretties, soon.
> 
> (Reminder that Reprise is what I named the moon they live on)
> 
> Hey... thanks. Thanks for reading my silly fics. Leave a comment if you liked it, those always make me smile.


End file.
